Freddy`s Didn`t Die In Vain

Money Being Raised For Zoo

WEST PALM BEACH — The sun beat down on the hauntingly empty exhibit where Freddy the 13-foot alligator reigned for 14 years.

``Where`s the alligator?`` shouted a blond 4-year-old walking with her day- care group at Dreher Park Zoo.

``He`s dead. Someone killed him. I wish he would be still alive,`` said a sad-faced Timmy Leeder, age 5.

``Why did they kill him?`` Timmy asked his teacher.

The same question has been asked by a deluge of Palm Beach County residents in the two weeks since the pickax slaughter of Freddy the alligator.

The killing left zoo workers distraught. Freddy, while perhaps not one of the more lovable creatures at the 35-acre zoo, was with the zoo longer than any employee and had become a popular attraction.

``It`s barbaric. I still can`t believe it happened,`` said head zookeeper Sally Lieb.

But the resulting onslaught of media attention and public and financial support have softened the resounding blows of the crime.

``Freddy didn`t die in vain,`` said zoo spokesman Warren Altman. ``It`s amazing that what happened to Freddy could do this.``

Residents, gripped by anger and sorrow over the killing, have shed no crocodile tears. Their support and donations have been real.

And support of the zoo since Freddy`s death is making a new security system and repairs to Freddy`s damaged exhibit a reality.

The zoo`s board of directors met Friday and decided to spend up to $25,000 on an electronic security system. Members said the system should prevent slayings such as those of Freddy and Candy, a white-tail deer who was strangled in her pen three years ago.

Two members of the zoo held a fund-raising drive last weekend at the Cross County Mall and collected $760. They plan to put bottles for ``Freddy Fund`` donations in most county Publix supermarkets and to continue raising money for security.

Telephone calls and letters have been pouring into the zoo, providing an additional $1,700. Some of that money will be used to reward the woman who called in with a tip that led to the arrest of the two suspects in Freddy`s killing. The rest will go for security.

Lieb said the zoo has not only been flooded with offers of money, but also with offers of alligators. ``If we said `yes` to every offer for a gator, we`d probably have about 100 alligators.``

The only gator offer the zoo will say `yes` to is the one from the South Florida Water Management District. The district has used a smiling cartoon of Freddy as its mascot since the late `60s and will bring in a replacement for Freddy in a ceremony Aug. 8.

In addition, the district is providing the supplies to help repair the exhibit. District employees also willsell T-shirts and stickers with Freddy`s likeness.

``Unfortunately, you take things for granted until something horrible happens,`` said Jan Horvath, director of resource coordination. ``I hope some good comes of this one.``

One of the more creative endeavors for the zoo has been a sensitive folk song recorded by three local musicians. Freddy`s Song is a professional sounding, upbeat tribute to the slain alligator.

``When I saw the article about Freddy, I was appalled. It was ghastly,`` said musician Buck Bradberry, who was in a recording session with two friends from college when he learned of Freddy`s death. The three spent 50 hours and $700 of studio time to complete the tune.

The song has received some airplay and cassettes will go on sale next week. Proceeds will go to the zoo.

Among other ideas zoo officials are kicking around is a spinoff from the ``Live Aid`` concert earlier this month that raised money for starving Africans. The concert would be called ``Gator Aid.``